| brassmonkey |
08-05-2010 06:59 AM |
Brazilian goalie charged with murder in death of ex-girlfriend
A Brazilian goalie, his lover and his wife were among nine people charged with the murder of his former girlfriend who had been trying to prove he had fathered her son.
The prosecutor filed the charges against Bruno Fernandes Das Dores de Souza and eight others in Contagem, Minas Gerais on Wednesday.
Charges include murder with special circumstances, kidnapping, imprisonment, concealment of a corpse, conspiracy and corruption of a minor. Eliza Samudio, 25, remains missing two months after she was last reported seen.
A former policeman, Marcos Aparecido dos Santos, was also charged with murder, conspiracy and concealment of corpse. All suspects are in jail except for one who is being sought.
Souza?s 17-year-old cousin told police the woman was killed. The teen said Souza watched as the missing woman was asphyxiated, mutilated and fed to dogs, local police investigator Wagner Pinto told reporters last month.
Souza?s new lawyer has said his client denies all the accusations.
Attorney Ercio Quaresma said it?s ?irresponsible? to charge the nine suspects with corpse concealment since no body has been found.
?It?s an inconsequence to sign something like that not having concrete proof,? Quaresma said.
Quaresma said the goalie will not answer any questions for now.
?He has not spoken and he won?t speak until the defense decides he needs to speak,? the lawyer said. ?And that might not happen?.
Samudio was trying to prove that the goalie fathered her infant son, who is currently being cared for by her mother, police said.
The police investigator described her death to reporters last month.
?They tied her hands, and this other individual strangled her,? Pinto said, referring to Santos. ?Later, they deboned :helpme and disemboweled her.?
The woman?s body was taken to an undisclosed location where her remains were fed to several Rottweilers, police said.
The cousin told investigators that Souza watched the entire incident, according to Pinto. Souza?s lawyer decried the accusations.
?Are the Rottweilers being charged too?? he asked reporters.
Souza?s former attorney, Michel Assef Filho, said last month that the goalie has ?no knowledge of the facts, he is astonished and scared by his cousin?s testimony and that?s it.?
Filho stopped representing Souza when the Flamengo Club suspended Souza?s contract. The attorney works on behalf of the soccer club.
The football star was last seen with Samudio in June as they headed for his country home in the state of Minas Gerais. A search for Samudio?s body is under way.
The Flamengo Club said it is suspending the goalie?s contract until all facts are known.
Journalist Luciani Gomes contributed to this report.
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